Growing fruit can be rewarding and downright tasty. That's because fruit trees can be an ornamental addition to a garden as well as a source of healthful, fresh fruit. But when fruit trees don't produce, many gardeners are left wondering why. Don't let that happen to you. Here's a list -- in order of importance -- of the reasons fruit trees may not produce fruit. Use it to troubleshoot your trees before problems appear.
Not enough sun. Fruit trees need at least eight hours of sun a day. They simply won't produce in the shade or in competition with other plants.
Lack of pollination. Insects (including many kinds of bees or flies) must move the pollen from one flower to another for fruit set. To make it more complicated, some fruit trees -- including apples, plums and pears -- require pollen from a different kind of tree to set fruit. In that case, you would need to plant two trees that bloom at the same time (a HoneyCrisp apple and a crabapple, for example) near each other.
Poorly drained soil. Fruit trees require good drainage and won't grow in wet, low sites.
They're not old enough. Each variety of tree has to reach a certain age before it will begin to set fruit. Some bear after two years in the ground, others can take as long as five to seven years. Check the bearing age when you buy.
They need pruning. If left unpruned, fruit trees can become a mass of foliage and branches, which grow at the expense of fruit. Prune young trees so that each branch has access to sunlight.
They've sustained winter injury. The flower buds of most plants tend to be less hardy than the leaf buds. That means that low winter temperatures may kill the flower buds without damaging the leaf buds, so the tree may leaf out fine, but will not produce. When you choose a tree, be sure to select varieties that have been developed for our zone.
They bear biennially. Sometimes trees produce a heavy fruit set every other year. Because the buds of most hardy fruit trees are set the previous summer, an especially heavy crop one year may prevent adequate bud formation for the following year.
